1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to winches and more specifically it relates to a dual drive winch system for efficiently providing a winch operable either manually or via an external motor.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Winches have been in use for years and are utilized for a variety of applications (e.g. drywall lifts, cabinet lifts, etc.). Typically, a winch is comprised of a mechanical device that is utilized to wind or unwind an elongated cable, strap or rope. The winch generally includes a spool and an attached crank to rotate the spool. Prior winches may also include a gear assembly to allow an operator to incrementally rotate the spool and also allow the operator to brake the spool to prevent the spool from rotating in an undesired direction.
The prior winches, such as winches utilized for drywall lifts or cabinet lifts also do not offer a winch that utilizes an external motor to wind and unwind the cable, strap or rope upon the spool along with the optional method of manual rotation. The utilization of both a motor and a manual source may be efficient in many applications for winches, such as when elevating a cabinet structure a majority of a desired height and then utilizing the manual source to fine tune the height of the cabinet structure. Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved dual drive winch system for efficiently providing a winch operable either manually or via an external motor.